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Bag wall – firebrick structure which prevents intense heat from striking the ware
Bat – A disc of wood, plaster or plastic used on the wheel head
Beaker- a tall cup
Blisters – bubbles formed in the body or glaze due to rapid gas release
Bisque – ware which has been fired once and is unglazed
Bottle Kiln – type of Europen updraught kiln in the shape of a bottle
Calipers – tool for measuring diameter of pots, useful for making lids
Celadon – traditionally a type of greenish Asian glazes
Chatter – decorative technique using a tool to create marks on a pot while it spins on the wheel
Chun Glaze – a traditional sung dynasty opalescent Chinese glaze
Coiling – an ancient way of making pots with coils or ropes of clay to build the walls
Collaring – Reducing the size of an opening by compressing the clay while it spins on the wheel
Combing- a decoration technique that uses a comb to draw lines on the surface of the pot
Crackle – Decorative craze lines in the glaze, looks like netting (not food safe)
Crazing – Formation of a network of cracks in the glaze (not food safe) a glaze fault
Crystalline – Crystal formations on the surface of the pot from certain glazes
Damper – Device for adjusting or closing the opening from the kiln to the chimney
De-air – To remove the air from clay via a machine called a pug-mill
Deflocculate – To disperse the particles in slip so less water is required for fluidity
Dehydration – loss of water from clay during firing
Devitrify – to recrystallize on cooling
Dipping – immersing pots in glaze or slip
Distortion – happens when pots dry to rapidly or unevenly
Downdraught(downdraft)- type of kiln in which the flames travel down over the ware
Dunt – to break from strains during cooling, can be caused by cool air entering the kiln
Earthenware – Low fired pottery, is porous and permeable even when fired
Engobe – another name for slip
Extrude – process of making shapes by forcing clay though tubes with dies
Fettle – to smooth the surface of leather hard clay
Fiaence – glazed earthenware
Firebox – where the fuel is fed into a kiln
Firing – The burning or running of a kiln
Fit – the adjustment of a glaze to the clay body
Flashing – the impingement of flame on a pot during the firing
Flocculate – to thicken
Flux – a substance which promotes or causes melting
Frit – A material used in glazes, consisting of fired glass that is ground to powder
Fuse – to melt
Glassification – turning or melting into glass
Greenware – unfired pottery
Grog – fired clay that has been ground into granules
Gum Arabic – used as a siccative with overglaze enamel
Hare’s Fur – a streaked brown glaze, originating in Japan
Heat work – a form of physical energy
Kiln- used to fire pottery, multiple of types, electric, wood, gas
Kiln post – made from a refractory material, to hold up kiln shelves
Kiln Shelves – refractory shelves that hold ware in the kiln
Kiln Stilt- small posts that you can fire glazed ware on so it won’t touch the shelf
Kiln Wash – a refectory mixture, painted on kiln shelves to prevent sticking
Leather-hard – clay dried to where it is stiff yet wet enough to trim or join with slip
Lug – a type of knob used as a handle
Luster – metallic overglaze applied to glazed ware and fired at low temps
Majolica – a type of Italian tin enameled pottery with colorful surface painting
Master Mold – a plaster mold that repeated copies can be made from
Matt Glazes – type of glaze with a dull surface
Mature – Fired to a tight, hard, serviceable structure
Mishima – inlaid slip decoration technique, Japanese in origin
Oil Spots – lustrous metallic spots on dark iron glazes
Open clays – porous or sandy textured clay with added fillers or grog
Overglaze – enamel painting on a glazed surface which is fired also referred to as china painting
Oxide – any element combined with oxygen
Oxidation – firing of a kiln with an oxygen rich atmosphere
Porcelain – a white, vitrified, translucent clay body
Pug Mill – a machine that mixes, de-airs and extrudes clay
Pyrometer – a device for measuring temperature in a kiln
Pyro cones – cones that gauge heat in a kiln which bend and melt at certain temperatures
Raku – a type of glaze and firing method based on the Japanese tea ceremony firing and wares
Raw Glaze- glaze that can be applied to unfired ware
Reduction – firing with a reduced oxidation atmosphere in the kiln
Refractory- resistant to heat
Rib – a tool used for smoothing the surface of a pot during throwing, compressing or finishing
Sagger – a fire clay box which protects ware from flame during firing
Salt Glaze – glazing by the vapors from salt in the kiln
Sgraffito –decorative technique where you scratch through slip to reveal the clay underneath
Shards – broken pieces of pottery
Shrinkage – the contracting of clay during drying in firing, can be up to 25% in some clays
Short Clay – nonplastic clay body with poor working properties
Slake – to moisten clay with water
Slip – a fluid suspension of clay and other materials in water, also referred to as an engobe
Slip Trailing – a decorative method using slip to draw on the surface
Slip Casting – a method of forming pots by pouring slip into plaster molds
Slurry – a mixture of clay and water
Soak – to hold a kiln at one temperature for a period of time
Soda Firing- atmospheric firing where soda is introduced into the kiln
Soluble – dissolved in water
Sprig- a relief decoration added to the clay surface, sprigs are usually formed in a mold
Stack or load- to set a kiln with pottery
Stoneware – pottery fired to a relatively high temp at which the body vitrifies
Terra Sigillata – refined slip used to color and seal a porous clay body
Throw- to make pottery on a pottery wheel
Tooth –roughness of a clay, grain structure
Viscosity – the relative resistance of a liquid to movement
Wad – bits of clay to hold down pots for trimming or for setting pots on in atmospheric firing
Wax Resist – when applied to the surface it prevents the adhesion of glazes and slips
Wedge – to remove air from clay by kneading with your hands